Bornova: Pagy Köşkü

From the Ege University Ethnography Museum, the siblings & Mui headed to the 19th century Pagy Köşkü (PagyMansion) … now Bayetav Art.

Once the home of prominent Levantine families, today the building hosts art exhibits under the auspices of BAYETAV, an organization whose full name translates as “We Live Together - Education and Social Research Foundation.”

The signage on the grounds describes the place as “… a space of encounter aimed at bringing together creations of various disciplines and contributing to the strengthening of social, cultural, and urban memory. …” It is the foundation’s intent to host “… various exhibitions and events in the fields of culture, art and design with a view to promote ways of living together and creating a new space for research and expression.”

Unfortunately for us, we missed the “Ode to Earth” Exhibit that apparently ended barely a week ago, so there wasn’t much to see. Nonetheless, a few things caught our eye as we did a quick wander inside the mansion.

[P.S. For those unfamiliar with the word Levantine … this is a term that pertains to the Levant, the region centered around modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. It was an important region of the Ottoman Empire. In Türkiye, the term refers to the descendants of Europeans who settled in the coastal cities of the Ottoman Empire for trading purposes. (Some consider it a derogatory term, though that is rarely the case. It is widely used to describe a group of people who had considerable influence on the development of a specific culture in the Western Mediterranean Region.]Read more